**Ever agonized over the perfect place to go on your first date? The right choice can affect on how well it goes – the wrong choice can end up in tumbleweed silences and a polite handshake goodbye. Well no more, because food writer/single girl and Grazia Daily columnist Tess Ward is on a mission to roadtest the perfect restaurants to take your date to. Tess Ward is a food writer, Le Cordon Bleu trained chef and host of West London’s exclusive tailor-made cookery programmes. She is also a twenty-something singleton, on the hunt for the best date-night eateries in our weekly column. Check here every Thursday for a nibble of the action…
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For the first time ever I am struggling for words. Aside from telling you where the date happened, what we ate and drank, I am sit trying to work out all the rest. I have sat in front of my laptop for half an hour already and written very little. Penning this date in words feels rather like trying to cage water, almost impossible. The only way I can explain it, is every now and then a person unexpectedly walks across your life path and you feel a connection. Almost as if you have known them for years. Well this was one of those dates. This man rather haphazardly breezed into my life of his own accord, (I do believe these things happen for a reason) and proceeded to knock the socks off all my former first dates.
THE VIBE****
Night Tales is a pop up that has recently sprung up in East London's Old Street, hosting cocktails and food from three of my favourite streetvendors: Patty and Bun, Rum kitchen and Voodoo Kitchen. The canopy protected space features wild gardens, old wooden benches and an upstairs whisky bar which makes some of the best old fashioned’s I’ve had in years. Inevitably the place has a distinctly young vibe, a mix of trendy top knot wearing east londoners, young professionals, fashionistas and foodies sharing benches, slurping mulled wine and scoffing sloppy chin-dribbling street food.
WHAT WE ATE AND DRANK**
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We began upstairs in the mezcal bar, befriending our neighbours and getting better acquainted. Minutes and a fair few cocktails whiled away into hours. By ten we were both ravenous (for food), so headed downstairs to try some of Patty and Bun’s finest Burgers. My date, I’ll call him Mr Blue Eyes, went for the pork special, whilst I opted for a classic cheeseburger in a lettuce bun. The burger was undeniably good, the meat quality unsurpassable, the cheese perfectly melted. Exactly the sort of lip smacking food to eat messily, sitting on the wooden floor among the twinkling fairy lights and branches of the wild garden. ‘The Pig Dipper’, a pork belly, sausage gravy and njuda sourdough bap glued together with rich provolone cheese was also a winner. Although, not so much as the classic burger. The best drink of the night was the hot mulled spice Negroni, although I recall the mezcal drinks being good too…
MY VERDICT**
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Night Tales is undoubtedly a great place to take a first date. Fun, lively and vibrant, there is a little something for everyone. I haven’t a negative word for the evening, (unsurprisingly) although expect to spend more than you might expect. The drinks certainly add up easily, especially if you are thirsty fish like we were. I’d be lying if I could tell you whether Mr Blue Eyes might be a visiting date night dinner regular, but cheers to the thought that he won’t breeze as easily out of my life as he breezed in.
** Night Tales, 288 Old Street, London, EC1V 9DP**
London Foodies, if you have any suggestions for date hotspots you love in london, please do tweet me @tesswardchef